The Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, are a beautiful, swirling display of mostly green, but also pink and purple, colors seen in the night sky, especially in places like Scandinavia and Canada. Many people are unaware of the true magic behind the Northern Lights, thinking it could be gods or other mythical creatures, but the explanation starts with the sun.

Beside our star being the primary light source for life on Earth, it also launches charged particles, mostly protons and electrons, in an uninterrupted stream. This stream is termed solar wind. In the sun's eternal journey of launching solar wind, it eventually interacts with Earth, running into our protective magnetic field. This magnetic field prevents most of the solar wind from reaching Earth's surface, but at the geographic poles, these winds can bypass the magnetic field and subsequently enter our upper atmosphere.

In the upper atmosphere, these charged particles rapidly collide with gas molecules, primarily oxygen and nitrogen. This sets off a chain reaction where the gas molecules become energized, and subsequently release this energy in the form of light. This is why we can see the Northern Lights because this process is happening hundreds of miles above our heads. The color of the light depends on the gas, where oxygen is red at higher altitudes and green at lower altitudes, nitrogen is purple and blue, and of the many gases present, there are other light contributing colors. The Northern Lights is a sun powered light show at the Earth.

When do you hope to witness this? You must go to the far north or the far south, away from light pollution. For the northern hemisphere, the best locations are Alaska, northern Canada, Iceland, Scandinavia, or northern Russia. You want to go during the fall and winter because you need long, dark nights. You also need a clear sky because no matter how busy the during the peak season the aurora is, clouds will block it. The lights are also strongest at the beginning and end of fall and spring, around the equinox because of when the solar winds hit the Earth at an optimal angle.

You also need to consider activity on the sun. The sun goes through an eleven year activity cycle and at the peak, which is called solar maximum, sun spots and solar flares are more common. This leads to more intense and more frequent solar winds and auroras. In the next few years, we are expected to reach this peak, making it a great time to plan a trip.

The aurora borealis is a reminder of how much interaction the Earth and the Sun have. You are looking at a beautiful example of how the solar wind is interacting with the atmosphere. How lovely is that.